Container sealing machine



F. REID Nqv. 15, 1932.

CONTAINER SEALING MACHINE lit-ml 7 INVENTOR. Mm flaw/11L ATTORNEYS Filed March 30,. 1931 Patented Nov. 15, 1932 UNITED STATES PAT'EN rous'rus m n), or CINCINNATI, OHIO, Assmnon ro 'rnnrnoomna ejeiimiim' or cmcmna'rr, 0310,11 CORPORATION or onrof g t v coivranma smme macmm: q

My invention relates to container sealing machines, particularly of the conveyor pressure belt type.

In the sealing of containers it has been customary in the past to apply an adhesive, such as silicate of soda or glue, to the closure flaps of containers, and to then pass the containers between pressure belts in which the closure flaps are firmly pressed into sealing position and held in such position suflicient time for a Ood tight bond to occur.

achines of this type are old and well known in the art, and it has further been customary to provide resilient mounting for one or the other of the pressure. belts, so that slight irregularities in the container seal will be compensated for. i

To the best of my knowledge and belief, however, no sealing machine of this type has ever-"been provided, in which containers of substantially unequal size. or dimensions 1 could be accommodated;

It is the object, ofmyinvention to provide a container sealer in which the closure flaps of containers of widely variant dimensions can be accommodated'without the necessity of adjustment of the machine for size. In Orderto explain clearlywhat .I mean by containers of substantially unequal dimensions, I may state that my sealing machine is adaptedto seal insuccession containers, for exan iple twelve inches height followed by contamerssixteeninchesinheighte Another object of my invention is-the provision of a sealin machine ,in which autoe i i l y to; s de ar tig t n n y e ns,

is provided, 7.

ion iii fih ea i g oei 'heLin -whichv stops Eig niigi sfagdggail which slidably engage? the, pedestals l. ,gThe tubular bosses which extend from vthe said ,W h gag s-a beveled gear- 2.5 mountedon w r I -,,up ght ha Anoth irl lobjectlo' in ntignis the; pro-f anotherlbeveled gear efieri l dite Pr t he man met r-the 0 !1 16fihflfli it:Whioli-iextends 'aciossith frame? of; the machine midi i's ournaledri-nlthe a mewmembers; 5301 whichnli-ke then-frame members 3, are adjustabl pinounted ;aonnthe conta ners iii t the otherendpf;themtlehineihereaisv P ley: 35 =Qye iwhifihwthet12611;wfiiextends T aulle asasha t 36,;5ml untedvin .1100,

I have shown in the modification illustrated, a sealing machine havingupright 'pedes-x tals 1 provided with suitable supporting bases 2. The lower conveyor isc supported on said frame members 3, I having tubular bosses 4 frame members 3 are provided with adjust-. ment bolts 5 which may be employedto mount the said frame members a t-a. desired position on the pedestals. U N 1, An electric motorfi; iscoupled to a suitable reduction gear unit17. The. reduction gear" unit has a pulley 8 which is connected 'b'y 'a-q, belt 9 to a driven pulley,10.,,Onthe-shaft ll of the pulley 10 there is a pinion 12 which-1, 1

meshes with a, gear 1,13 which is {fixed on a; shaft 14. The shaftjl l has a -pulley; or roll 1 15 mounted on it,-; ove whichpthe-conveyor belt 16 passes in;ancontinuousformation,g ,70

So that the motor and; reduction gear unit :2:

may bereadily adjustable with; the frame membersB, I have? employed straps .17v which {I are secured to the :frame imembers; -3,v,and

which support the base l8 ion which, the motor 6 and reduction gea l-w-un i zlare-mountedt Supporting the belt; conveyor :16; 81Te;a; series of rollers 19- hich have;spindlesg20ajour naled in I journal bearings; 20a.

In the usual .mann e1 theioonveyorabelttltil passes over a pulley 21 which has; ai, spi ndlez-.w

22 mounted inadjustable 1 10 23 4151 Vides ready a justment; Eibr the; conveyor, belt16.-

The shaft justable bearing blocks 37. Shaft 38 extend across between the frame members and carry tubular bosses 39 of roller supporting arms 40. Extending across between the bosses 41 of the arms are the spindles 42 of the rollers 43 which bear down against the belt 34.

It will be noted that the pressure belt 34 extends about rollers 44, and then up over rollers 45 journaled in slidable blocks 46. Weights 47 secured by cables 48 which extend over pulleys 49, exert a pull upwardly on the blocks 46. The size of the weights 47 will be such that immediately upon any slackness in the pressure belt 34, the idler pullleys 45 will take up the slackness in the To prevent the supporting arms 40 and rollers 43 from becoming wedged in a position where they will not give in line with the direction of movement of the containers through the machine, which direction is indicated by the arrow between the containers 50 and 51, I have extended across between the frame members 30 bars 52, which the arms 40 will strike against before they can be moved to a position inclined to the right, as shown in Figure 1, from a line extending vertically down from the axis of the shafts The operation of the sealing machine will be obvious. The containers are fed in between the belts 34 and 16, and, as indicated, containers of widely variant dimensions, such as the container indicated at 50 and the container indicated at 51, will be accommodated between the pressure belts. While it is customary to pre-seal the bottom closure gages ,rollers which are supported on hinged frames which yield to permit the conveying belt to accommodate containers of substantially different dimensions, said rollers being of relatively small diameter and being spaced sufliciently closely so that a plurality of said rollers overlie each container during the sealing thereof.

2. A sealing machine for containers having cooperating conveying and pressing belts, one of which is movable in substantially a fixed plane, and the other of which engages rollers which are supported on hinged frames which yield to permit the conveying belt to accommodate containers of substantially different dimensions, said rollers being of relatively small diameter and being spaced sufliciently clos'ely so that a plurality of said rollers overlie each container during the sealing thereof, said machine having stops to prevent said frames being inclined in a direction counter to the movement of containers through said machine.

3. A sealing machine for containers having cooperating conveying and pressing belts, one of which is movable in substantially a fixed plane, and the other of which engages rollers which are supported on hinged frames which yield to permit the conveying belt to accommodate containers of substantially difierent dimensions, said rollers being of relatively small diameter and being spaced sufficiently closely so that a plurality of said rollers overlie each container during the sealing thereof, said'belts being carried on members extending longitudinally of the maclliine, which members are vertically adjustab e.

4. A sealing machine having a belt conveyor on which containers to be sealed will be carried, and a pressure belt having mounting means yieldable in the direction of movement of said conveyor, said mounting means comprising a series of rollers mounted independently on pivoted arms, said rollers being of relatively small diameter and being spaced sufficiently closely so that a plurality of said rollers overlie each container during the sealing thereof.

5. A sealing machine having a belt conveyor on which containers to be sealed will be carried, and a pressure belt having mounting means yieldable in the direction of movement of said conveyor, said mountlng means comprising a series of rollers mounted independently on pivoted arms, said rollers being of relatively small diameter and being spaced sufiiciently closely so that a plurality of said rollers overlie each container during the sealing thereof, said machine being provlded with stops to prevent the inclination of said arms counter to the direction of movement of said conveyor.

6. A sealing machine having a belt conveyor on which containers to be sealed will be carried, and a pressure belt having mountin g means yieldable in the direction of movement of said conveyor, said mounting means comprising a series of rollers mounted independently on pivoted arms, said rollers being of relatively small diameter and being spaced sufficiently closely so that a plurality of said rollers overlie each container during the sealing, thereof, said arms being supported on vertically adjustable frame members.

7. A sealing machine for containers having cooperating conveying and pressing belts, one of which is movable in substantially a fixed plane, and the other of which en- LAN gages rollers which are supported on hinged frames which yield to permit the conveying belt to accommodate containers of substantially different dimensions, said rollers being of relatively small diameter and being spaced sufficiently closely so that a plurality of said rollers overlie each container during the sealing thereof, said belts being carried on members extending longitudinally of the machine, which members are vertically adj ustable, said members carrying said belt movable in a fixed plane also carrying a motor for driving said belts.

8. A sealing machine for containers having cooperating conveying and pressing belts, one of which is movable in substantially a fixed plane, and the other of which engages rollers which are supported on hinged frames which yield to permit the conveying belt to accommodate containers of substantially different dimensions, said rollers being of relatively small diameter and being spaced sufliciently closely so that a plurality of said rollers overlie each container during the sealing thereof, said belts being carried on members extending longitudinally of the machine, which members are vertically adjustable, said members carrying said belt movable in a fixed plane also carrying a motor for driving said belts, and a reduction gear unit also carried by said last noted members.

- FORESTUS REID. 

